N.S. experts say election promises on housing need less ambiguity, more consultation

Election promises to make housing more affordable are being met with mixed reviews by a pair of experts in Nova Scotia who say vague policies and pledges that don't take current labour conditions into account could hinder progress.

Nova Scotia has rapidly lost some of its most low-cost apartments to rising rents in the last four years, while the newest housing is nearly double the price of the oldest apartments. This makes it important, some experts have said, to preserve lower rents where they exist and shield them from market forces. 

Catherine Leviten-Reid, an affordable housing researcher and associate professor at Cape Breton University, pointed to promises made by the NDP and the Liberals as proposals that would help with affordability in the province.

The NDP has vowed to ban corporate landlords from purchasing existing rental properties that are affordable, which she said would help address the erosion of affordable housing stock. Similarly, the Green Party has promise to stop corporations from buying single-family homes.

Leviten-Reid also said building new supportive housing — which includes support services for vulnerable people — as the Liberals are proposing, would help with affordability. 

The Conservatives have said they would make it easier for buyers by eliminating the GST from the purchase of some new homes. The Liberals have made a similar promise, but only for first-time homebuyers.

What's affordable?

The problem is that while the main parties have pledged to make housing more affordable, Leviten-Reid said the way they have been defining affordability has been "rather ambiguous."

"I was surprised at the lack of attention on what we mean by affordable housing, based on how much concern there's been about it over the past two decades," she said. 

• What do the major parties have to say about housing? Read here

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing is affordable when it costs less than 30 per cent of a household's income before taxes. 

Leviten-Reid said the Green Party's plan stood out to her because it specifies a definition of affordability tied to income. The party has also promised to use covenants to ensure publicly funded housing stays affordable in perpetuity.

The main parties have also promised to speed up construction of new housing and increase supply. 

The Conservatives would expect cities to grow the number of homes built by 15 per cent each year or risk losing some federal funding. The Liberals have vowed to double Canada's rate of residential construction over the next decade. Meanwhile, the NDP say they'll build three million new homes by 2030.

'Consultation, frankly, is lacking'

But Duncan Williams, president of the Construction Association of Nova Scotia, said the province may not have the workforce to support housing construction at the scale parties are proposing — particularly if we rely on traditional building processes and methods.

He said a newly elected federal government will need to meaningfully consult with the construction industry and consider needs at the local level.

"Consultation, frankly, is lacking on most of these [policy] ideas," said Williams.

He pointed to major immigration cuts made last fall by former prime minister Justin Trudeau's government as a recent example. He said the cuts have affected Nova Scotia's ability to hire enough people for the construction industry, which has between 2,700 and 3,000 vacancies.

Williams would like to see more targeted immigration policy that prioritizes labour needs.

"We have said for a very long time that those in the trades are not being prioritized high enough," he said.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney has promised to maintain a temporary cap on immigration. Meanwhile Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said his government would cap immigration at a rate that's tied to the growth of housing stock.

Transforming the housing system

Some experts have said there needs to be much more non-market housing like non-profit and public housing in order to address housing issues in Nova Scotia and beyond long term.

To Leviten-Reid, the NDP and the Green Party have the strongest emphasis on building non-market housing. 

The NDP has set a target of having 20 per cent of housing in every neighbourhood be non-market housing. Meanwhile, the Green Party's plan states it will launch the "biggest public housing construction program since the 1970s."

She added that the Liberal plan to create a new entity that oversees the construction of affordable housing has the potential to be transformative, but that there needs to be clarity on who will own and operate what gets built.

"If this is simply about becoming a developer and selling the land, selling the properties, then we're not talking about transforming the housing system," Leviten-Reid said.

Poilievre's Conservatives have pledged to sell federal buildings and "thousands of acres" of federally owned land to developers of market and non-market housing, with preference for housing that's affordable.